Easel.



' the back of the mount to support the latter UNITED STATES PatentedOctober 18, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE...

FRANK E. House, or BoSToN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To THE noUsH.co1viPANY,or BOSTON, MAssAoHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or M INE.

EASEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,513, dated October18, 1904.

'Application filed April 23, 1904. Serial No. 204,517. illomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. Housn, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Boston, in the county of Suifolk and State ofMassachusettshave invented new and useful Improvements in Easels and theLike, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is of that class in which a mountis supported by aneasel-leg; and its object is to provide an improved article of thisclass, and particularly to provide a oheapand convenient. means tosupport the mount on either its end A or side and to hold it securely ineither position at diflerent angles.

My improved easel comprises a slotted mount having a separable legconstructed to engage the slotted mount-through a slot-andtonguefrictional connection between the mount and leg so that the two aredetachably connected and the leg can be shifted about on either on itsend or side and at different angles.

A feature of my invention resides in the construction of the detachableleg, which in its best form is made of a single strip of material foldedinto a triangular shape and provided at each end with a tongue, which isadapted to attach the leg so as to support the easel at differentangles, yet, as a practical matter, the

to be inserted into a slot of the'mount and to establish theslot-and-tongue frictional connection above referred to. Thisconstruction is simple, convenient, and gives great strength to the leg,the lower side of the triangle acting as a stay and preventing thesupporting member from sliding under the weight of the mount. Moreover,by folding the strip at different points throughout its length the mountmay be securely supported in different angular positions, or this resultmay be obtained by inserting the tongues of the leg in different slotsof the mount, thereby obtaining any desiredangle for the mount andovercoming the objection to former easels of this class, insome of whichthe leg was so made that the easel could be supported only at one angle,while in others, though it was possible leg could be used to support themount setical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

tened together.

curely in but one position. The convenience In the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating an embodiment of' my invention, Figure 1 is arear elevation of my easel. Fig. 2 is a ver- Fig. 3 is a plan View ofthe supporting-leg broken away at the centerto save space. Fig. 4:show-s a modified form of the body of my easel, and Fig; 5 shows amodified form of the supporting-leg.

The mount of my improved easel is preferably composed of two parts A andB of cardboard, paper, or other suitable material fas- This mount may beof any desired shapeor size, but I have shown it rectangular. The rearpart B is provided with longitudinal slots 1 and latitudinal slots 2,and in the preferred form of my invention (shown in Fig. 1) these slotsare arranged in two series, which cross one another at the center of themount.

G is a supporting-leg in its best form made of a single strip ofcardboard or other suitable material and provided at each end with atongue (0 and shoulders b at the base-of the tongue. The leg C may bemade of a single piece of material or made of three separate sections'XY Z fastened together, as shown in Fig. 5; but preferably it is of aSingle piece folded into atriangular form, as shown in Fig. 2. Thetongues a are of such size that they fit into'the slot in the part B,forming a slotmount and the leg, through which the leg holds the mountpermanently in position.

If the mount is to be supported on its side,

.the leg is separated from the part B and shifted and-tongue frictionalconnection between the tongues are placed in one or more of thelatipositions may be readily obtained either by shifting both tongues afrom one slit or slot to the next slit or slot of that series above orbelow or by inserting one tongue in one slit or slot of one of theseries and the other tongue in a different slit or slot of the sameseries.

What I claim is l. The combination of a mount With longitudinal andlatitudinal slots and a detachable leg inserted at one end into one ofthe slots to form a slot-and-tongue frictional connection between themount and leg, substantially as described.

2. The combination of aslotted mount and a detachable leg formed as atriangle substantially as shown Whose opposite ends are inserted intothe slot to form a slot-and-tongue frictional connection between themount and leg substantially as described.

FRANK E. HOUSH.

Vitnesses:

JOSEPH T. BRENNAN, MARGARET A. .DANIIIIGR.

